Unwanted Blood (Harper) novel Chapter 4

Ryder’s POV

I still don’t get it. Why did Mom want her in the first place?

Harper.

The name alone makes my stomach turn. Except for Lily, no one in this family can stand the sight of her. Not really. Dad used to pretend she didn’t exist. The twins treated her like a punching bag. Logan did his quiet, twisted games.

And me? I’d spent years making sure she felt every bit of the poison she brought into this house.

After Dad passed away due to illness last year, I took over the Wilson Group.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. Today’s schedule popped up right away. I was to meet Damon Ashford, CEO of Ashford Group.

Our companies have been competitors for years, smiling at each other in public and knives out behind closed doors.

Dad was always said before we can’t push too hard yet. Ashford’s bigger, has deeper pockets. But if we can land even one joint project, Wilson Group gets a real shot at turning the tables down the line. I wasn’t excited. I was just ready to get it over with.

I showered fast, shaved, pulled on a dark gray suit, white shirt, no tie. Professional. Dad likes me to look when we’re dealing with people like Damon.

When I came down the stairs, the house felt off. Too quiet. Normally this time of morning I’d hear the twins already going at it, laughing and throwing insults at Harper while she sat there shrinking into her chair. Today? Nothing. Just the clink of forks and low voices.

I stepped into the dining room. Colton looked up from his plate. “You’re late.”

I ignored him. He was nineteen going on twelve sometimes. Still acted like everything was a game. I scanned the table.

Then, without really thinking why, I asked, “Where’s Harper?”

The question hung there. My brothers looked at me like I’d grown a second head. I never asked about her. I never cared where she was. The less I saw of her, the better I felt.

Grayson raised an eyebrow. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t,” I said flatly. “Just asking.”

Colton snorted. “Probably still hiding in her room like the coward she is.”

Grayson turned his head toward the doorway. “Mina!”

The maid appeared almost instantly. “Yes, sir?”

“Call Harper down,” Grayson said. “Tell her breakfast is ready.”

Mina nodded and disappeared up the stairs. We waited. I poured myself coffee and leaned back in my chair, already half-checked out. Let them have their fun. I’d watch. Same as always.

A few minutes later Mina came back. She looked nervous. “She didn’t answer, sir. I knocked. Called her name. Nothing.”

Colton laughed. “What, now she’s too good to come down? Lazy pig.”

Grayson smirked. “When she finally drags herself out, we should make her cry extra hard today. Birthday hangover.”

I stayed quiet. Sipped my coffee. Let them talk.

But something felt wrong. The quiet wasn’t right. I set the mug down harder than I meant to. “I’ll check.”

I stood up. My brothers exchanged looks but followed anyway. We climbed the stairs in a line, me first, then Grayson, Colton, and Logan trailing behind. I didn’t knock when we reached her door. I just pushed it open.

She was gone.

“What the hell?” Grayson breathed.

I moved further into the room, my eyes taking in every detail. Colten walked to her desk, then froze. “There’s blood here,” he said, pointing at dark spots on the floor.

Grayson opened her desk drawer and pulled out a small knife. The blade was stained with dried blood. He stared at it in disbelief and maybe fear.

He turned to me, eyes wide. “She cut herself.”

“What?” I felt my jaw tighten. She cut herself just for a small teasing?

Colton was already at her closet. He pulled the doors open. “Everything is here. She took off with nothing but what she was wearing.”

Logan stayed near the door, arms crossed. He didn’t say anything.

I didn’t know what I was supposed to feel. This was what we wanted, wasn’t it? Her gone. Out of the house. Out of our lives. No more reminder. No more walking curse.

So why did my chest feel tight?

At that moment, hurried footsteps echoed from downstairs. Lily burst into the room, panting heavily, clutching her phone tightly.

“Harper! She…” Lily’s voice cracked.

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked.

Tears spilled down her face in an instant. “Last night Harper told me she wanted to go see the ocean… I thought she just needed some time alone… I didn’t think… when I woke up, I saw this.”

She thrust the phone toward me, her hand shaking violently. I snatched it from her.

The words on the screen hit like a blade straight to the chest.

Dear Lily,

By the time you read this, I will already be sleeping in the sea.

Please don’t be sad for me. Be happy instead. Because I’m finally free!

Under my pillow there’s a letter that I wanted to say to my brothers. Please make sure they get it.

Don’t miss me. I wish you all the happiness in the world.

“No!” Colton was the first to shout, his voice in panic.

Grayson’s face was pale. He stood frozen.

Logan’s eyes were already red. He lifted the pillow and pulled out the letter.

I took it from him. My fingers shook so badly I could hardly unfold the paper.

Line after line, the words exploded in my mind like bombs.